


The Problem with Nepotism

by Sinful Words (MontanaHarper)



Category: Actor RPF, Canadian Actor RPF, Stargate Atlantis RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-06-21
Updated: 2006-06-21
Packaged: 2017-10-11 20:55:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/117012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MontanaHarper/pseuds/Sinful%20Words
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Kate corners him after the first day of shooting and says, "Does Jane know?"</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Problem with Nepotism

Kate corners him after the first day of shooting and says, "Does Jane know?"

"Know what?" David asks, playing it cool, but he knows he's totally busted. Kate's always been the one who could see through him; he could fool everyone else—even their parents sometimes—but never her.

She crosses her arms over her chest and gives him a raised-eyebrow look that's disconcertingly familiar. For a minute it's their typical battle of wills, but then Paul comes out of the bedroom, having showered and changed back into his own clothes, and Kate opens her mouth.

"Yes," David hisses to stop her asking again in front of Paul. It's too late, though, because Paul looks curious and Kate looks stubborn and David just gives up. "Christ, Kate, do we have to do this?"

Her expression changes to something much more reminiscent of their mother, and he can tell she wants to snap at him to watch his mouth. Instead, she says to Paul, "I was just asking if Jane knows you and David are fucking," and David's sure she chose the word deliberately to show him that she can be as foul-mouthed as he can.

Paul looks shocked for an instant before covering it with a bland nonchalance. David shakes his head, forestalling Paul's denial. "It's no good," he says. "Kate's super power is that she's a human lie detector." He turns his attention back to Kate. "Yes, she knows, not that it's any of your business. No one else does, so if you could maybe _shut up_ about it?" He's pretty sure everyone else has gone, but he'd really rather not have this be the gossip _du jour_ when hiatus is over in February.

It feels like he's a teenager again, with his bratty little sister holding knowledge of his misdeeds over his head, blackmailing him into doing her chores and her homework. It's been a lot of years since that's been true, and usually he and Kate get along great, but once in a while they seem to regress.

Then Kate suddenly grins at him. "Well, that's good," she says, her entire posture relaxing. "I like her and I didn't want you to screw things up."

David rolls his eyes. "I'm going to get a beer," he says to Paul. "You want one?" He ignores Kate entirely.

A quick glance between them, and Paul says, camp to the point of lisping, "Yes, thank you, darling." Kate bursts out laughing, and even David can't help cracking a smile.

"Or maybe," he says as he heads into the kitchen, "I'll just kill myself with the bottle opener and leave the two of you to explain everything to the cops and the studio."

He's standing in front of the open refrigerator, staring blankly and trying to process that he's been outed to his little sister for the second time—and Jesus, at least it's not like in high school with Vincenzo, because if he can go the rest of his life without her walking in on him again while he's having sex then he can die happy—when he feels her arms slip around his waist.

"Sorry," she mumbles into his shoulder, and a wave of affection washes over him. He lets go of the refrigerator door and turns around in her arms, resting his forehead against hers, and she grins. "You know you're my favorite brother, right?"

"I'm your _only_ brother, dipshit." He squeezes her until she giggles, then releases her and she dances away, barely missing crashing into Paul, who's just arrived in the kitchen doorway and is looking fondly at both of them. David grabs three beers out of the refrigerator and pops the caps off. He hands one to Paul, but Kate's looking serious again and that's never a good thing.

She takes the bottle he holds out, then frowns. "Is it going to be a problem?" she asks. "I mean, me cozying up to your boyfriend for the next couple of weeks."

Paul, who's in the middle of taking a drink, nearly chokes, and David can feel his own face flush at her casual use of the word boyfriend. _Why can't the ground ever conveniently open up and swallow you when you want it to?_ he thinks, then manages to say, "No, I think I'll be fine. What about you, Paul? Can you pretend to mack on my sister?"

"Who's pretending?" Paul says earnestly. "I've been trying to get my hand up her blouse all day."

For an instant, Kate actually looks shocked, and then she's sliding down the wall and onto the floor, laughing so hard David's afraid she's going to hurt herself. When she finally gets her breath back, she lets Paul help her to her feet and then pulls him and David both into a hug, and her beer bottle is cold and wet against David's neck but he doesn't say anything, just lets himself enjoy the moment.

When they all finally let go, David says, "Mind you, it is a little unfair that you get Paul and I get Mars."

And with that, they're off on a discussion of the next day's shooting schedule and last-minute script revisions, with Paul tugging battered copies of the week's call sheets out of his back pocket, and then everything is back to normal—or at least as normal as things get in David's life.


End file.
